


Barbara Gordon: Predator

by Gemini_00



Series: Batfamily Shorts [55]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Character Study, Child Abuse, Dark Barbara Gordon, Dark Bruce Wayne, Evil Bruce Wayne, Non-Graphic Violence, Other, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 09:05:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18870067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemini_00/pseuds/Gemini_00
Summary: Since Red Hood's arrival, Barbara can't help but rethink the Owl Family's intentions and mission- and how it has changed over the year.Prompt: Barbara Gordon





	Barbara Gordon: Predator

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of the Dark Fic.

_ Predator stared at the dead eyes of the dirty cop that let Owlman into the asylum whenever they pleased. The bullet hole through his head was clear and concise, there wasn’t any sign of fear on his face meaning the Owlman and his nest were not the cause of this. _

 

_ “Jason,” She called as she felt the eyes of her ‘brother’, “Or is it Red Hood, now?” _

 

_ He dropped behind her, throwing the dagger at her just for show. He had to know that she would catch it… After all, she taught him how to throw. She looked him up and down in his Red Hood and massive bulk. So different from the lithe pipsqueak that died by Ultraman’s hands. She turned to face him with his gun trained on her. _

 

_ “Heard that the Commish’ been missin’,” Jason’s voice was audited by the helmet, “Commissioner Gordon Missing in Action After Rabid Attack Leaving Daughter As The Only Survivor and Commissioner’s Body Suspected to be In River.” _

 

_ That was the headline…. Gang attack or something… Little did they know that Predator got discovered by big brother and no one but Barbara and her father know his whereabouts. Something in Barbara twisted at the thought of abandoning and scaring her father into silence, hiding him from Owlman. _

 

_ “That’s the story,” She whistled. _

 

_ “You killed your brother,” Jason stated. James was never her brother and he was out to kill her too. Poor Commissioner had to watch them fight it out until one of them came out on top. Predator was just better, “You don’t even care.” _

 

_ “Things have changed, Jason,” She told him. There’s the scars to prove it. Scars given by the Owlman. _

 

_ “What the hell did he do to you?” _

 

Predator paralysed Harley Quinn for trying to interfere with the Owls (based on Owlman’s orders, just another test for Barbara to prove herself loyal). Barbara Gordon was a young girl who felt betrayed by a friend. Owlman said that the woman just wanted intel but Barbara can’t help but think differently when she showed up bloody and bruised from Bruce finding her slip up. Harley disguised herself as a grief therapist (shortly after Jason’s passing), she tried to manipulate Barbara into going against the Owls in her own subtle way.

 

_ “I know who you are,” Predator was barely walking, somehow forcing herself to stand up and hold the gun after Owlman’s reinforcement. Harley Quinn aka The Dollie was the Jester’s partner. _

 

_ “Did he hurt you?” Harley asked in that damn calming and caring tone that always made Barbara feel safe. _

 

_ “You hurt me,” Barbara, no Predator, yelled at the woman who stood patiently and unblinking. _

 

_ “If you walk away empty handed, what will he do to you?” Harley asked, stepping forward so the gun was pressed right against her stomach. There was no fear, just understanding and trust that Predator refused to see. _

 

_ “Why did you take that information from me? Why did you do that?!” Barbara screamed, “If you didn’t do that then I wouldn’t have to do this!” _

 

_ “Barbara, if I didn’t warn them then all those men would die,” Harley said, “I know that they were bad, but it is not up to us to determine whether they live or die. They’re in jail now. Justice is being served the way it should.” _

 

_ “Not in Gotham,” Barbara let out, “Nothing good stays in Gotham.” _

 

_ She turned off the safety with her shaking hands. _

 

_ “It’s okay,” Harley let her hand come up to caress the face of the killer, “I forgive you.” _

 

_ The gun goes off _

 

The Jester chased after Predator for weeks after Harley laid in a coma. The fight between Owlman and the Jester resulted in Owlman out of commission for nearly three months and Predator having to hide away and lurk closer to the shadows than ever before. 

 

Then Harley Quinn had been spotted, still teaching grief groups and less with her boyfriend the Jester. The Jester who had told Predator that the only reason she had been left alive was Harley’s request… Barbara hadn’t seen the woman in nearly a year. But it felt surreal now, standing outside a community room where support groups for grief were held. 

 

“AA is in the next room,” Harley said as she wheeled over to a table where coffee sat with her back facing Barbara. The young woman can’t deny the thought of stabbing the cripple in the back for her betrayal, but doesn’t.

 

“Never been a drinker,” Barbara snapped. The chair whipped around faster than any speedster could wish. In it sat the blonde, looking healthier than the last time Barbara had been face to face with her… but then again the woman had been bleeding out on the floor.

 

“I was wonderin’ if I’d a’ eva’ see ya’ again,” Harley let her real accent show for once. The one that she would use when working with the jester, “All you Owl’s have been poppin’ up left an right again.”

 

“Someone else visited you,” Barbara said and she had a sinking suspicion of who.

 

“Jason Todd stopped by tryin’ to right his wrongs,” Harley prattled, “Wanted to know if I knew where the Jester was.”

 

“You and the Jester are working with the Red Hood?” Barbara asked.

 

“Hah,” Harley laughed, “Me and Mista’ J haven’t talked since I saved ya’ skin. You know, a thank ya’ card would have been nice.”

 

“So you don’t talk to the Jester anymore,” She frowned.

 

“He couldn’t handle it,” Harley shrugged, “Why I let this happen and why I was okay with it.”

 

“Adn why are you okay with it?” Barbara asked. She had to know why this woman who for all intents and purpose wanted to _ save _ Predator let her shoot her and ruin her.

 

“This world ain’t pretty puddin’,” Harley said, “And it hurts some worse than others. What’s goin’ on in there ain’t good. You and I both know it. It’s why you’re here right now as Barbara Gordon instead of Predator. It’s why ya’ daddy is safe and hidden despite all you’ve done- despite what that Owlman has done to you.”

 

Barbara glared long and hard at the blonde. She was getting in her head the same way she did last time, it was almost just like Bruce but so different. Her head didn’t hurt as much as her heart and Barbara can’t remember the last time she felt heartbreak.

 

“You didn’t see me,” Barbara snapped, “And I suggest you stay far away from Jason Todd or the Jester. That’s the only warning I can give you.”

  
  


_ Back when it was just Predator, Talon, and the Owlman- Barbara felt a rush at the victory. She felt something open up in her when Owlman first showed her how to beat down an opponent- to only kill when they needed to be killed.  _ That was before the league. Before the first kill. Before James went off the hinges just as bad as Barbara.

 

_ The first time she saw the need for what they were doing as her dad had to work night and day in a corrupt system that he could only dream of fixing. It was a simple case when Talon was more playful than bloodthirsty. They decided to play tag along the rooftops while waiting for the drug drop. Barbara saw it first, a man beating a boy nearly twelve. His father. _

 

_ “Predator,” Talon said, about thirteen, “That’s not the prey were hunting tonight. We can’t go off schedule.” _

 

_ “ Someone should show him what it’s like to be on the receiving end,” Barbara said, “Isn’t that why we do this? To make it fair? For Justice?” _

 

_ Barbara, barely sixteen, beat a mean near death and gave some cash to the child. She searched each bruise and cut that barred the child’s skin in order to return it to the man ten fold. She’d never been a fan of preying on the weak, not like Gotham. She thought that what being an owl was all about. _

 

Now, nearing twenty four, she watched Dick break a child’s leg during training… Damian looked exhausted and tormented more and more each time she saw him. And Dick, ever the favorite brother, usually was there to pick up the boy. The same boy who flinched away from Talon when he scooped him up off the ground in what felt like false comfort, something that Dick was much better at than Bruce was who use to just yell at them to stand. She flashes back to the softness that Bruce once treated them with; Her, Dick, Jason. It wasn’t as endearing as Dick’s gentle smiles but it also wasn’t as sickenly playful as his swordsmanship.

 

“It’s okay owlet,” Dick cooed, “You won’t do it again. I know its hard and you’re tired but we only do this because we care.”

 

He ran hands through Damian’s hair before he began setting the knee. The child was doing his best to keep his whimpers in. To keep his guard up, too bad that Talon loved it when people cried. Almost as much as he loved when they bled.

 

“I wanna go home,” Damian pleaded with Dick. In return, all the boy got was a Talon smile… The same smile he got when he killed, when he broke the back of the child abuser, when he hurt the child in front of him.

 

“You are home,” He mimicked.

 

Barbara wanted to be sick.

 

_ Bruce use to say that his mission was too dangerous for children, too twisted. Barbara had to fight for it. She fought long and hard for the mission. Blood, sweat and tears went into the making of predator.  _

 

_ “Do you think you can actually do this?” Owlman asked her, not even fifteen years old but following around the Owl and Talon like she’d been there forever, “You think you can match this city’s worst and make them beg for mercy? You think you, of all people, could make a change?” _

_ She glared right back, “Yes.” _

 

_ “There’s no going back girl. You fight here then you’re stuck here. Our mission includes the fighting the nightmares of this city as well as the so called heros? We kill so they don’t have too. We fight because that’s the way of life. Is it really worth it to you?” _

 

_ The high schooler thought of her father putting all the work into a city that will never give back. She thinks of the lives he’s had to take and how he cries for them. She thinks of her twisted brother who no one can see.  She thinks of sweet and twisted Gotham. _

 

_ “Yes,” She hissed- never knowing how far it would go. _

 

Talonette was nobody’s favorite partner. She was unskilled and impulsive. She saw Gotham at it’s worst, lived and thrived in it in way that maybe only Jason Todd could understand. She came from the grime, grew up in the gutter and really thought that she could make a difference…

 

Barbara watched the girl try and stitch up her own wound, one she got from another undercover brothel mission. Well… Dent always liked helpless blondes.

 

“Let me do it,” Barbara approached the girl. The girl who usually had a smart yet cheerful retort that would grate the other members ears. But B had her working day in and day out undercover while also playing tricks on Deathstroke and the others for any information on their lost bird. She was exhausted and tired.

 

“B said I have to do it,” Stephanie said, “My fuck up. My fix.”

 

“Did you get this on the mission or from B?” Barbara asked.

 

Stephanie let out a smirk, “I got this from solving the problem my way.”

 

“What was your way?” Barbara asked her.

 

“I saved the girls and Dent got away,” Stephanie sadistic smile left her face, “I disobeyed orders. Apparently I could have gotten myself killed… B said I needed to learn a lesson in what orders meant. I cut until he told me to stop.”

 

“What if he never told you to stop?” Barbara asked. It killed her to see so much of herself in the younger girl. The need to prove herself, the undying loyalty, the quick mind to change things to her own agenda… but things have changed since then. Stephanie doesn’t answer but let Barbara stitch up the wrist.

 

_ “You went against orders,” Batman yelled at her, “Gordon is alive.” _

 

_ “He’s my father,” Barbara screamed back. She was covered in the blood of her father. Talon watched from afar with a wary look on his face. Red Owl stood next to him, watching them all like a confused child. _

 

_ “We’re your family,” Owlman, not Bruce, clutched her throat in his hand. She could fight back but the loyalty in her commanded her to go limp, “You disobeyed an order. Where is he?” _

 

_ “What are you going to do about it?” She asked, “Kill me? Replace me like you replaced Jason?” _

 

_ The mention of the dead son causes him to go sour. He tightened the grip, instincts has her clawing at his fingers. Red Owl and Talon staring wide eyed. _

 

_ “Talon,” Owlman grunted, “Take Red Owl outside.” _

 

_ “B-” _

 

_ “Talon! I gave you an order! Or do you both need a lesson?” Bruce threatened. And they left, leaving Barbara for one of the worst beating of her life that she barely came back from. And when she did, she had nothing to go back to but them. The Owls.  _

  
  


“Talon said that you have been off recently,” Bruce, dressed in civilian clothing, approached her.

 

“We aren’t wearing mask Bruce. You can say his name,” Barbara told him, “I’ve just been thinking recently. About the past. About Jason.”

 

Bruce stared at her for a long moment, “Has he contacted you?”

 

“As much as he does the rest of us,” She lied. She forced herself to not let any tells be revealed to the great detective, to her mentor, “I don’t think he is coming back, Bruce.”

 

“He will,” Bruce told him, “He’s an owl.”

 

“Is he a Wayne?” Barbara asked.  _ Are you still Bruce Wayne or is there nothing else left? Is there anything left in any of us? Where does Predator separate from Barbara Gordon? _

 

Owlman stared at her with those beady eyes that were so different from who she used to know. She wonders what her own eyes looks like. When people look at them do they see her victim’s staring back at them?

 

“Of course Barbara,” A Brucie smile took over, “We’re always family. Whoever we choose to be.”

 

_ Talon helped nurse her back to health after Owlman beat her. He helped her with the physical therapy, even acted like he didn’t enjoy when the nurse drew blood or Barbara asked him to spread lotion on her scars. It was alot like the Dick Grayson she used to know… She felt herself falling back. Back to when they were kids just finding out what they liked and what they wanted. _

 

_ “Predator should be back and running in no time,” Dick told her. _

 

_ She frowned, “What if she doesn’t?” _

 

_ “What do you mean?” Dick looked so confused. Not that he didn’t understand what she was getting at but because he couldn’t possibly understand why. Why would she want to leave. _

 

_ “Dick when you first left, you had the best time of your life… The freedom of Gotham. You changed for the better, and you came back-” _

 

_ “Jason died,” He told her flatly, “When we leave family dies. We have to stay, Babs. Bruce needs us. We keep him human. We keep Gotham clean. Can’t you see?” _

 

_ She thought that she did. _

 

She was good at the computers, the tracking, the finding of people. Predator hunt their prey and she found Red Hood and Deathstroke rather easily. Deathstroke’s gun was trained on her the second she walked in.

 

“Jason, I suggest you call off your pet before I kill him,” Barbara raised a brow at him.

 

“Said Talon’s bitch,” Deathstroke dared. He’d wish he kept his tongue later.

 

“What do you want, Barbara?” Jason asked, “I’m not exactly in the mood for a fight.”

 

Barbara really wasn’t quite sure what she wanted. She wanted the people she cared for to be safe. She needed to keep them safe but she mostly just wanted to be free. Free from the Gordons. Free from the Owlman. Free from Gotham.

 

“To leave,” She said, “But I can’t do that until I know they’re safe.”

 

“Who? Gotham or-”

 

“Fuck Gotham,” She spoke in the same way that Jason once told her, “You know exactly who I want safe.”

 

“You’re really going to take down Bruce after all he’s done?” Jason asked.

 

_ Bruce held her when Jim was first shot in an alley. Bruce told her to kill him. Dick was her first sweet kiss. Talon liked to have sex in their victim’s bedding. Tim brought a whole new light to their cave. Tim’s calculating views caused them to bomb a homeless home inorder to send a message. Cassandra needed her. She needed Cassandra to stop. Stephanie worked her way up. Stephanie was willing to die for it. _

 

“I have too,” Her voice sounded like broken glass, “He was my mentor. He was your dad. If you can do it, so can I.”

 

“If you double cross me, I’ll kill you Babs,” It was a warning. It was an out that told her he wouldn’t tell the Owl if she wanted to go right now. He wouldn’t hold it against her.

 

“You can try,” It was a sad attempt of a joke, “Only one of us has actually died here.”

 

Jason gave a hopeless smile, “Welcome to team anti-Owl, you ready to double agent?”

 

“Never felt more ready in my life,” she lied.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
